Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge the passage of H.R. 1767, the Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act.

When I came to Congress about 16 months ago, I made a commitment to deliver legislative victories and every possible resource that would positively impact Illinois-03. During my first term, through our work on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I have made it a priority to advocate for equity for our veterans and to ensure they have access to every single benefit and resource they have rightfully earned. That work includes protecting them from bad actors seeking to exploit them for the benefits they deserve.

It is why I am so proud that this bill, H.R. 1767, the Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act, passed through committee with bipartisan support and has come to the floor today.

I thank Congressman Mike Levin for being an original cosponsor with me. Also, I thank Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bost, Ranking Member Takano, and the fantastic committee staff because we don't acknowledge the work that they do enough. I thank them for all of their support and leadership in moving this bill through committee.

I also thank Veterans Education Success and Student Veterans of America for leading the effort to protect our student veterans from bad actors seeking to exploit their benefits.

I thank the National Educational Association and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, HACU, for their support of my bill and the work they do on behalf of student veterans and all students.

I also want to take the time to express my gratitude to my staff and the rest of the committee staff for the countless hours that they have spent, majority and minority, working on this bill. I thank them for their efforts. I am grateful for Justin Vogt, who has been and continues to be instrumental to this work.

Access to quality education is one of the promises we have made to our veterans, and we have to deliver.

The educational benefits provided by the GI Bill have been instrumental in helping veterans gain economic security and access to postsecondary education. Moreover, these benefits have helped ensure that student veterans are fully supported to transition back into civilian life.

This bill starts the long-overdue process of restoring the GI Bill benefits of student veterans who were defrauded by for-profit colleges and universities. This bill will help veterans like Army veteran Christopher Brown from Des Plaines, Illinois, who was promised a quality education that would be covered by his benefits, but ITT Tech instead used all of his benefits and left him with $95,000 of debt.

Because of this bill, thousands of veterans across the country will now have a pathway to be able to seek restoration.

I thank our ranking member, again, for his endless commitment, and I thank our chairman, as well.

I believe that today is the beginning of the journey of making sure that every single veteran in this country is able to go to school and is able to have an opportunity to seek the education that they deserve.

Madam Speaker, yes, my bill was negotiated and amended, and I look forward to working together to ensure full parity for veteran students as we continue to do this work in the coming months and in the coming Congress and certainly making sure that this bill passes the Senate.

We have come a long way in the fight to protect our student veterans and passing H.R. 1767.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support its swift passage today, and I look forward to it becoming law.

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